As the dimensions of integrated circuits continue to scale to smaller an smaller dimensions, the electrical isolation of one transistor from the next becomes increasingly difficult. The most commonly used method for electrical isolation is shallow trench isolation (STI) in which shallow trenches are formed between transistors and filled with a dielectric. In instances where the voltage is higher, the trenches must either be made wider or deeper to support the higher voltage. Increasing the active pitch (trench opening width plus active geometry width) by making the trenches wider is the more manufacturable solution, but it also causes the area of the integrated circuit to increase thus reducing the number of chips that may be formed on a wafer with a resultant increase in cost per chip. Making the trenches deeper while keeping the active pitch constant is difficult because trench etch tends to increase the width of the trench opening for deeper trenches. This results in a decrease in the width of the active width resulting in reduced transistor drive current.